The artist that I have decided to pick is the well known photographer Annie Leibovitz. Leibovitz portrays many main stream celebrities in a way that ranges from intimate settings to impersonal settings, but the images also show the celebrities as incredibly desirable. But Leibovitz doesn’t only shoot celebrities, she has an uncanny way of shooting unknown individuals and groups. Leibovitz’s works of the both well known photographs and the less known are incredibly easy to find since she is an incredible popular photographer.
I choose Leibovitz because I realized that I see her photographs more often than I have ever realized. Just by opening the pages of my Dad’s Rolling Stones from a young age, I was admiring and being inspired by her work. Her style portrays celebrities in a completely different way than any other editorial or fashion photographer. There is a little more skill and a bigger story to tell than what the model and set designer decide to portray on any other photo shoot. She catches her subjects in a moment while there is a story being told on their faces, or positions them in a manner to show more than the average photographer. There is just something about her work that appeals to me.
"The Well Known"
Issue #335 (Jan. 22, 1981)
If you never knew who Annie Leibovitz was before I did this installation, you probably recognized this picture. Leibovitz has taken some of the most well known images of pop- icons. You've probably seen more of her work than you realized.
Demi Moore Vanity Fair, August 1991
" The Staged Story"
LAST RITES. EXT. HOLLYWOOD MEMORIAL PARK CEMETERY—DAY
Romeo and Juliet by Annie Leibovitz for Vogue
"The Recognizable"
Queen Elizabeth, 2007 A Year with the Queen
"The Lesser known"
Iggy Pop (2000). From Leibovitz's "American Music" exhibition
Mick Jagger, Buffalo, New York, 1975.
My Critique
Leibovitz's work is usually done on mediums of "C print" or Silver Print . The issue I have with Leibovitz's work is that although I think it is phenomenal and holds a certain amount of truth and a story behind every piece, I dont know how much of the story was computer generated and how much of it is genuine skill. A lot of her work that are in exhibitions and showcased in galleries and museums are processed on the medium, silver print. This is how original photographers started printing their pictures. This is where I feel that Leibovitz's true talent can be showcased. Even though computer generating an image takes a lot of skill, I feel that the process of the 'C print' adds a sort of fakeness to the artwork.
BraninTable of Contents
Manifesto
Please also check out my favorite Leibovitz exhibit- American Music
ANNIE LEIBOVITZ
"A writer for American Photographer once said that the umbrella and strobe reflected in the mirror in my portrait of Jimmy Carter was a “skillfully implemented device.” As I recall, I walked into the room holding the light and set it down and plugged it in and started taking pictures. I didn’t think about it."Excerpted from Annie Leibovitz at Work, by Annie Leibovitz, published by Random House in November; © 2008 by the author.
PROPOSAL
The artist that I have decided to pick is the well known photographer Annie Leibovitz. Leibovitz portrays many main stream celebrities in a way that ranges from intimate settings to impersonal settings, but the images also show the celebrities as incredibly desirable. But Leibovitz doesn’t only shoot celebrities, she has an uncanny way of shooting unknown individuals and groups. Leibovitz’s works of the both well known photographs and the less known are incredibly easy to find since she is an incredible popular photographer.I choose Leibovitz because I realized that I see her photographs more often than I have ever realized. Just by opening the pages of my Dad’s Rolling Stones from a young age, I was admiring and being inspired by her work. Her style portrays celebrities in a completely different way than any other editorial or fashion photographer. There is a little more skill and a bigger story to tell than what the model and set designer decide to portray on any other photo shoot. She catches her subjects in a moment while there is a story being told on their faces, or positions them in a manner to show more than the average photographer. There is just something about her work that appeals to me.
"The Well Known"
" The Staged Story"
"The Recognizable"
"The Lesser known"
My Critique
Leibovitz's work is usually done on mediums of "C print" or Silver Print . The issue I have with Leibovitz's work is that although I think it is phenomenal and holds a certain amount of truth and a story behind every piece, I dont know how much of the story was computer generated and how much of it is genuine skill. A lot of her work that are in exhibitions and showcased in galleries and museums are processed on the medium, silver print. This is how original photographers started printing their pictures. This is where I feel that Leibovitz's true talent can be showcased. Even though computer generating an image takes a lot of skill, I feel that the process of the 'C print' adds a sort of fakeness to the artwork.